Nothing less than perfection
by WinterStorrm
Summary: When Arthur meets Merlin all is not as it seems. (Merlin AU set in HP verse)


**Title:** Nothing less than perfection  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Pairings:** Arthur/Merlin  
**Word Count:** 3,500  
**Warnings:** None  
**Summary:** When Arthur meets Merlin all is not as it seems.  
**Author's Notes:** Written for glomp_fest 2014.  
Set in the Harry Potter verse.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters depicted herein belong to Shine and BBC. I make no profit from this endeavour.

Arthur was having a very bad morning.

The weather was cold and wet and he was running uncharacteristically late after getting stuck in the lift in his building, never more pleased than he was today that he lived a five minute walk from the office and didn't have to face the tube as well. He'd been awake half of the night mulling over the 'Destined' campaign and was still no closer to a solution.

Tempted by the scent of coffee and baked goods Arthur found himself in a quaint little coffee shop he hadn't noticed before somewhere near his office bearing the name 'Cissy's'. Distracted by the odd selection of muffin flavours—what on earth was butterbeer?—he failed to notice until it was too late that there was only one empty seat in the place, at an occupied table in the far corner underneath a landscape painting of Glastonbury Tor.

He could cope with possibly having to make small talk if he had to as long as he got to enjoy his coffee and muffin before he had to show his face at work. Ten minutes of chatter and not thinking about the campaign would actually be welcome.

When he arrived at the table Arthur automatically gave the occupant the once over. The dark haired young man sat with his back to the wall with long slim denim encased legs stretched out before him crossed at the ankle, and his concentration was focused on the book he was reading. Arthur scanned his face, unexpectedly interested, taking in pale skin, sharp cheekbones and long dark lashes that didn't quite hiding his bright blue eyes. A spark of excitement ignited.

He was bloody gorgeous. Fate was smiling on Arthur today after all.

He was _perfect_ for the 'Destined' campaign.

He was also now staring back at Arthur with amusement, one eyebrow quirking when their eyes met. Arthur smiled brightly and nodded his head towards the empty seat at the table. "Is this seat taken?"

"Be my guest." Arthur's smile was returned and if Arthur had thought him gorgeous before… Wow.

He pulled out the chair and gratefully sank into it. "This is a popular place," he said, glancing around him and only then noting that most of the other patrons were rather eccentrically dressed, long coats, hats of all shapes and sizes. There was probably a sci-fi convention on at the hotel over the road or something; they seemed to have them at least every other week.

Arthur held out his hand. "I'm Arthur." He never gave out his full name when meeting someone who didn't recognise him. There was barely a person in England who didn't know the name Pendragon. His father's power had been far reaching, still was even from beyond the grave.

Long fingers encased Arthur's hand and their eyes locked. "Merlin."

Arthur could have sworn time stopped for a moment. He blinked and withdrew his hand, dragging his attention to his caramel pumpkin latte and taking a grateful swig. Anyone would think he was a giddy teenager on a first date the way his heart started to pound. He had to have Merlin for the campaign. A 'no' wasn't an option.

He broke off a piece of his vanilla muffin and risked another glance at Merlin. Merlin was still watching him, eyes locked on Arthur's lips before realising Arthur was looking at him and blushing.

"I've—"

"What—"

They both laughed uncomfortably and Arthur said, "Go on."

"I was just going to say I've never seen you here before, that's all."

"Surely that's not unusual for London. You can pass someone on the street every day for ten years and still be unable to pick them out in a line up," Arthur said, appraising Merlin's appearance once more—just to double check. "Although I doubt very much you would blend into a crowd with cheekbones like yours."

Merlin flushed pink. "Um—" He scratched the back of his head and awkwardly shifted back in his seat. "Thanks?"

"In fact, have you ever considered modelling?"

Merlin's face fell and averted he his eyes. His voice had lost its friendliness when he said, "I can't say as it's the top of my list of career choices...or anywhere on the list at all."

"It doesn't have to be a career. It can be an easy way to make some extra money."

"Look, if this is some kind of sleazy—" Merlin closed his book and glared at Arthur, the blue of his eyes now a narrow rim around an angry circle of black. "I'm not interested."

"No! Crikey, that's not what I meant at all. I work in advertising and you'd be the perfect face for the campaign I'm working on." Shit, this wasn't going well at all. Arthur reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his business card, sliding it across the table to Merlin. "Here. I work for Red Knight." Arthur didn't mention that he owned the company with his best friend Leon.

Merlin picked up the card and Arthur realised he was holding his breath as he scanned the details on the front and turned it over to inspect the back, his brows drawn together in concentration. "Alright, I _have_ heard of Red Knight. You're serious?"

"Look, just think about it. If you're interested all my contact details are on there."

Merlin blinked and looked up at Arthur again making him wonder if he was going to forget to breathe every time he looked at him because that would make Merlin dangerous to be around. "No Floo address?

"What—" Arthur was interrupted by a very blond slim man appearing beside them and placing a hand on Merlin's shoulder and whatever he had been about to ask slid from his mind.

"Sorry to interrupt," he smiled pleasantly at Arthur before turning to Merlin. "Merlin, I hate to ask, but is there any chance you could help out for an hour or so? Frey's off sick again and Teddy isn't due in until eleven. Mordred and I are run off our feet."

Merlin glanced at Arthur briefly before nodding. "No worries, Draco. Just give me a minute?"

The blond—Draco—said, "Of course," and faded away.

"I have to go," Merlin said, reaching for his backpack off the floor beside his chair and putting his book inside. "Look—"

"Let me take you to dinner tonight and we can talk about it some more." Arthur didn't want this to be the end of this encounter. He'd found the face he'd been searching for weeks for.

Merlin stilled, poised to stand. "Pizza?"

"If you want pizza then that's what we'll have. There's an Italian just around the corner from here I've always meant to try. Puccini's. Meet me there at half seven?"

"Alright. Half seven."

Arthur watched him walk away, his heart pounding with excitement. He hoped against hope that he could at least persuade Merlin to do a test shot. He was _the one_.

::::

So, the day that had started out badly but it hadn't ended up that way. Work had gone well, Arthur had signed the high value client he'd been wooing for weeks and found out that Red Knight had been nominated for a prestigious award. On top of that Leon had stopped in to announce he'd _finally_ popped the question to Elena.

And then— Arthur had made it three steps into his hallway before he'd given in and pressed Merlin into the wall, unable to hold back from kissing those teasing lips any longer, not after seeing Merlin lick his lips after taking a sip of his drink, or watching those same lips as they talked or laughed. All Arthur's plans to talk Merlin into modelling for the campaign had gone to pot about the same time Merlin had taken a bite of a breadstick and all the blood had rushed to his cock.

Apparently Arthur's cock thought they were on a _date_.

Arthur decided he didn't mind, not with the throb of pure want that was becoming more desperate with every passing second.

They hadn't made it as far as pudding. In fact, they'd only been in the restaurant for twenty minutes before Arthur said, as the pizzas arrived, "Do you want to get those to go?" and Merlin had nodded, his hand sliding along Arthur's leg under the table.

It had been torture just waiting for the waiter to box them up. Now, here they were, pizza boxes forgotten on the floor at their feet, Merlin's back to the wall and his legs tight around Arthur's waist.

"Bedroom," Merlin said, coming up for air. "Bedroom now."

Yes, today was shaping up to be the best day ever.

::::

When Arthur woke up with Merlin curled around him still fast asleep Arthur took the time to study him, admiring long dark lashes and the soft curve of his lips, making Arthur itch to kiss him awake. He looked so young but Merlin had told him that he turned twenty-one next month making him only nine years younger than Arthur.

"Can I open my eyes now?"

"No, I'm enjoying the view."

Merlin's lips twitched. "You'll enjoy this more," he said and without opening his eyes wriggled under the duvet, kissing a trail down Arthur's stomach as he went hand closing around Arthur's morning glory. Arthur groaned and clenched his hands in the sheets. Soft lips replaced fingers and Arthur bucked, one hand moving to thread into Merlin's hair. With the other he yanked the duvet out of the way, only vaguely aware that it had fallen to the floor because the sight of Merlin with his eyes now wide open and staring up at him with Arthur's cock in his mouth, was enough to make everything else fade into the background.

Merlin pulled off and Arthur whimpered in protest. "I told you you'd enjoy this." He winked and went back to work. Arthur was sure his eyes had rolled to the back of his head as Merlin took him down to the root, knowing he wouldn't last long if Merlin carried on like he was. When a finger found its way to his hole and circled it gently around the rim Arthur was undone.

He came harder than he had the night before.

::::

When they woke up for the second time it was Merlin studying Arthur closely, smiling when their eyes met.

"Good morning," Arthur said, returning the smile. Merlin was curled around him again, erect against his thigh. "You're insatiable." So it seem was he, for Merlin.

Merlin wriggled against him. "Wanna ride you."

Arthur's half-mast cock sprang to attention. "Don't let me stop you."

"No time for slow," Merlin said, climbing over to straddle Arthur. "Been waiting for you to wake up _forever_." He reached for Arthur's cock, rolling down a condom Arthur hadn't even seen him reach for, hand already slick with lube, coating it gently and raising himself up on his knees to line himself up. He sank down swiftly, verifying his earlier words, obviously still worked open from Arthur's fingers and cock the night before because there was no resistance.

Merlin reached out and linked his fingers through Arthur's, the other palm braced against his heart. His cock bobbed, long and thin, against the flat plain of his stomach making Arthur's mouth water as Merlin rode him.

Arthur could get used to this.

Arthur _wanted_ to get used to this. The idea that this could be a one off made Arthur squeeze Merlin's hand tighter—he never wanted to let go.

When they were both sated and lying side by side, breathing still laboured, Arthur said, "Do you want to do this again tonight?" Every night from here on in if Arthur had his way, and he wanted Merlin to know it. "And maybe tomorrow night and the one after that?"

He was sure he felt Merlin relax slightly beside him. "Only if you take me out to breakfast. I refuse to eat cold pizza at this time of the day and I'm starving."

::::

They went back to 'Cissy's'.

"You met the guy that owns this place yesterday," Merlin said as they sat down at the same table they'd occupied the day before after ordering at the counter. "Draco's practically my father. He and my adopted father, Harry, have been together for years so Draco lived with us—my sister and me—almost since day one. We're both adopted though really Harry and Draco are only twelve years older than me and Morgana. Both of us are orphans." He sighed, mouth downturned.

Arthur had so much to learn about him and he wanted to know every tiny detail. He didn't even know what Merlin did for a living yet. They'd jumped straight into bed before finding all of those things out—even before Arthur had broached the campaign that had drawn him to Merlin.

Merlin was right for the 'Destined' campaign because where that campaign was concerned—the re-launch of the label that had been his mother's—Arthur would accept nothing less than perfection. Arthur had struggled to find the right model because he'd been holding out for the ideal—_his _ideal—man for the job.

Arthur couldn't regret that things had happened so fast between them. They had this morning, tonight, tomorrow night and many other nights after that to get to know one another better.

Arthur dragged his gaze away from Merlin and scanned the café. The sci-fi convention was obviously continuing today of the dress of the patrons was anything to go by. There was a woman at the counter with long peacock feathers sticking out of her tweed hat. Bemused, he turned back to Merlin. "Do you help out here often?"

"Hmm?" Merlin's mind was clearly still on his sister. "No, just every now and then to fill in. I'm studying art. I spend a lot of time holed up in my studio. Other people usually model for _me_."

Arthur scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "About that—I wasn't joking you know. I'm sorry if it came off as something else. I'm still hoping you'll change your mind."

Merlin slid his hand onto Arthur's knee, sending Arthur's libido soaring in memory of what had happened when Merlin had done that the previous evening. "How about you tell me all about the campaign tonight?"

"Before or after the sex?"

"I don't mind, as long as there's sex."

::::

When they'd finished their breakfast Merlin said, "I want to paint you."

Arthur waggled his eyebrows. "Naked?"

Merlin rolled his eyes. "No, but as I intend to keep your portrait for my eyes only in my studio I wouldn't object if it treated me to an occasional _striptease_."

"I—That doesn't even make—"

Arthur stopped abruptly when a huge brown owl swept in from somewhere and landed on their table.

"What the—" Arthur blinked twice but the owl was still there and now it was raising its foot and Merlin was untying what looked like a small parcel.

"Thanks, Iggle," Merlin said, reaching into the jacket on the back of his chair and producing a packet of multi coloured sweets. He emptied two onto his palm and offered them to the owl who pecked them up one at a time, hooted and took off leaving Arthur staring after it with disbelieving eyes. "I was beginning to think this would never arrive."

Arthur turned his attention back to Merlin who was opening the tiny parcel to reveal two miniature books. Except—Merlin tapped the top book and suddenly they weren't tiny anymore they were encyclopaedia sized leather bound tomes.

"How did you do that? And what's with the owl? How on earth—?" A million and one questions filled his head all at once.

"Oh hell—you _can't_ be," Merlin spluttered, eyes wide and trained on Arthur in horror. He shook his head and said something that sounded like, "Bloody buggering shite."

"Are you going to tell me what is going on? I'm still asleep aren't I? Doesn't feel like a dream— What is this place? Have I—?" Arthur's mind was whirring madly. He couldn't really have just seen what he'd seen.

"How could I not realise?" Merlin said, shaking his head. "How on earth did you get in here yesterday? How did you even see it? Shit. No—okay, okay, it doesn't matter, we can—"

"What's going on here?" With his back to the room Arthur hadn't noticed someone else approaching, a man with dark brown hair and round glasses framing a pair of bright green eyes. "Merlin?"

"I don't know, Harry—he's a muggle but he walked in here of his own accord. I didn't realise until…how did I not _realise_? Is there a problem with the wards? Oh Godric."

Arthur jumped to his feet. "I'm a what? Look—I don't know what's going on here but—" Sharp pains began to stab behind his eyes signalling an impending migraine.

Green eyes—Harry— put a hand on Arthur's shoulder and said, "I'll deal with this, Merlin," and before Arthur could do more than turn his now panicked gaze to Merlin's worried one he felt a sickening tug in his navel and Merlin disappeared from view. The last thing he heard was Merlin saying, "No—Harry—"

Arthur woke up after dark in his bed at home with his first migraine in six years and the feeling that he'd missed something very important and not just a day at work.

::::

Arthur retained that niggling feeling that like he'd forgotten something for nearly a month. Like he'd left the house and got half way to work before questioning himself as to whether he'd locked the front door. It was driving him crazy because it was _more_ than an unlocked door. He felt empty.

The 'Destined' campaign was going nowhere because no matter how many 'just perfect' model profiles the agencies sent him none of them were right. In fact, they were all downright _wrong_.

There was something on the edge of his consciousness, in the corner of his eye, a shadow that never left him. He was starting to feel like he was losing his mind.

When Gwen bustled in and placed a steaming Costa cup in front of him Arthur said, "Tell me that's caramel pumpkin flavour," before pulling off the lid and sniffing it. He glanced up at Gwen who was watching him in confusion. "Hazelnut is good too."

"Arthur, is everything okay? You've been scaring the work experience kids more than you usually do these last few weeks."

"I'm fine, Gwen. Really, stop worrying." He forced a smile and turned to his laptop in an attempt to bring the conversation to a close.

Luckily Gwen knew when to take a hint. "This just came from the agency." She handed him the folder that Arthur hadn't noticed tucked under her arm and left the office, closing the door firmly behind her.

Arthur sighed and glared down at the folder. The agency was running out of people to send him and undoubtedly this selection would be no better. Opening it he realised that there was only one portfolio inside. Taking a welcome sip of his coffee he flipped it open nearly spilled it all over the lone photograph inside.

A standard eight by ten, it was a colour photograph of a young man with pale skin, bitten red lips, sharp cheekbones and fathomless blue eyes.

He was the one, he was _perfect_. Arthur traced his fingers over the man's lips. The name beneath the photo read, 'Merlin Emrys' but Arthur had_known that_.

He'd found Merlin, even if he hadn't know that he was looking for him.

Without taking his eyes off the photo he pressed the intercom. "Gwen, get the agency on the phone please." Nervous excitement twisted through his belly and the persistent niggle that had dogged him for weeks abated to be replaced by a pleasant confusion. Merlin's blue eyes stared up at him from the photo and Arthur said, "This is the oddest déjà vu ever." He wasn't sure what was going on, but memories were awakening.

_How had he forgotten?_

Gwen buzzed through and said, "Vivian from the agency on line one."

Before Vivian could speak Arthur said, "How soon can you have Merlin Emrys here for a chat?"

"He's here in reception right now," Vivian replied. "He can be with you within the hour."

"Perfect." Arthur hung up and glanced at his watch.

When he looked back down at the photo, Merlin winked at him.


End file.
